January 20, 2025 Earthquake: Tainan, Taiwan
A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Tainan, Taiwan on January 20, 2025 at 16:17:26 UTC, 16 km below the surface.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- January 20, 2025
- Time
- 16:17:26 UTC
- Place
- Tainan, Taiwan
- Magnitude
- 6 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 16 km (10 mi)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 23.182° N, 120.545° E
- Country
- Taiwan
The toll
- Injuries
- 50
- Damage
- $1.3 billion
- Houses damaged
- 7,000
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
At least 50 people injured, 7,000 homes and 405 schools damaged and power and water outages occurred across 5 counties in southwestern Taiwan, mainly Tainan. A bridge damaged at Yujing and a fire erupted at a factory in Chiayi. Landslides blocked a road near Haiduan, Taitung and several roads near Dapu, Chiayi, isolating a village of 50 inhabitants. (reference #13456)
27 injured, 1.3 billion USD in damages (refrerence #1250)
170 million USD in economic loss (reference #14257)
1 billion USD in economic loss (reference #14321)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 22, 1782, Tainan, Taiwan
- April 20, 1935, Mialoi, Taiwan
- July 16, 1935, Xiinzhu, Taiwan
- September 20, 1999, Nantou, Taichung, Taizhong, Taiwan
- 1721, Tainan, Taiwan
- June 6, 1862, Tainan, Taiwan
- March 16, 1906, Jiayi, Taiwan
- December 3, 1848, Zhanghua, Taiwan
- February 1845, Zhanghua, Taiwan
- December 16, 1941, Taiwan
- January 30, 1736, Tainan, Taiwan
- August 9, 1792, Jiayi, Tainan, Taiwan
- August 28, 1916, Taiwan
- November 5, 1904, Jiayi, Taiwan
- February 5, 2016, Tainan, Taiwan
More
Significant earthquakes of 2025The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2025Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 10952.